a few of my favorite things...

my grandpa gave me just about the best gift ever. a set of vintage stamps. they are over 100 years old. my great grandfather used to use them to make signs in his drug store. my gramps put them in an old cigar box and covered it with an old leather purse of my great grandmothers... when he was around 9 years old. awesome.

john. our elf on the shelf. the kids love it, but are also a little scared of him. they say he creeps them out. they freaked out a little when sarah picked him up. i just heard a lot of screaming and... no! no! he'll lose his magic!! you can't touch him!!
christmas manicures. especially when i have 2 home from school all week... rotovirus. poor kids. it's ok tho, they were better by saturday. then got strep throat on monday. good times people.
our first ornament.
paul's mom saved a bunch of his old ornaments. i love having these vintage (70's) ornaments on our tree.
my grandma gave me this set of angel ornaments on her last trip out to az before she died. she also gave the kids some bright yellow big bird sweatshirts. i am going to save them forever.
i bought these ornaments when big S was 4 months old. they were so cheap and we didn't have any money. i was so excited. i think they were 2 for $1.
love this pic of my girls. they were in ireland in fine irish linen gowns sitting at an amazingly beautiful church with a cemetery surrounding the entire grounds.
more vintage ornaments...
love this. i think my mom got it for me in santa fe. maybe.
i bought this on clearance from pottery barn when big S was a baby. again, just a fun memory. where does the time go?
i'm pretty sure my friend ann made this herself. she did stained glass artwork as a hobby. pretty sure i won this at an ornament gift exchange. you could steal for a shot. i'm not sure... it's a little fuzzy...
these little gems get me every year. the kids always put their hands on top and say "look mom! look how much my hand has grown! was it really that small?" it makes me cry just typing it.

it's beginning to look a little like Christmas....

no, this is not our house. but it is nearby and the kids like to drive by and ask why we don't have this many lights on our house...
p and i picked out the tree by ourselves this year. it was fun.
it was L's turn to put the angel on the tree this year.
at a Christmas party...
D's kindergarten Christmas wish list:
in case you can't make it out:

Dear Santa,

For Christmas I would like,

1. ipad

2. gogo for real pet

3. ds

4. play dough factory

5. pillow pet

that tallies up to be about $1070. hmmm...... i wonder if Santa will bring any of it.....

thankful

i am thankful that we were able to travel and see my grandma and grandpa in indiana for thanksgiving. little S, baby R and i started the journey together on sunday. we were traveling stand-by, so we got to the airport early and shared a cinnamon roll :)

we had time to walk around and take pictures of ourselves in the bathroom. i was really excited about my new stylish sling my talented friend, yvette, made for me.
we finally arrived, on the first flight we tried, to grandmas. i forgot the base to the carseat, so we stayed home for the first couple of days. we went for walks and had lots of fun diving into grandma's craft closet while grammy rocked baby R. he loved it.
little S all bundled up.
my mom so kindly brought the base to the car seat when she arrived. so we headed to the mall.
we stayed a few nights at my wonderful aunt susie's house. the kids had so much fun playing with her vintage toys and i had so much fun going through her vintage linens.

baby R's special bed...

enjoying the leaves in a. susie's backyard.
finally it was thanksgiving. we had lots of yummy food, even special vegan mashed potatoes for me, (thanks mike :) watched some football, and even did a little irish step dancing.

the kids table..
thankful banner...
some the grandkids decided to go in on getting grandpa a new chair. we went to an awesome furniture store where my uncle works. gramps tried them all out and finally found the perfect one.
we all kept ourselves busy... being very well behaved.
we visited our favorite apple orchard... tuttles. the best carmel apples ever.
we had tons of fun with our good friends... on the stadler's farm

S was thrilled to ride a horse all by herself.
we then headed over to little S's god-parents home. the Timkos. we all went to college together and always have a blast when we reunite.
we tried to make this cake non-dairy and it was more like cake soup. i ate it anyway.
we have been busy since college.... this pic is missing 2 kids.
we were sad when it was time to go home. i am so thankful for my friends and family.

Disaster waiting to happen...

blissful

i was so happy to find these vegan chocolate cupcakes at the coffee shop. they are delish. i liked them so much that i ordered a dozen for S's party.

little S has the whole house to herself during the day. she runs around, dresses up, lives in an imaginary world.... total bliss.

until the girls get home.......
yeah for pdubs! he rigged something up and now the Christmas tree is beautiful! he even put the lights on!

time

there just isn't enough time in the day anymore it seems. i don't like being this busy. i need to have spontaneity in my life or i get a little claustrophobic. i can feel the plans and schedules wrapping around my neck. yuck. at least it is all mostly things i want to do, but the things that are not getting done are piling up.... junk piles, forts never put away, dishes, no decorations out yet, trying to lose 10 lbs, you know, to look good for all the Christmas parties.....

here are just a few that are on my mind this morning....

1. somehow a tube of pink lipstick was washed with the 4 white jcrew dresses i just bought for the girls. grrrrrrrrr

2. i am sick. grrrr......

3. the dishwasher is not cleaning the unending dishes.. which makes them even more never ending

4. the tree that paul and i picked out is indeed crooked, which the guy assured us that the hole was drilled in straight. well, the hole is stretched out so it is very very crooked when it is on our stand. i swear i am buying a fake one this year.

5. i need to write so many thank yous. i hate it when i don't have time for that... because i am soooo thankful for the things that our friends and family do for us.

6. i am pretty sure D is sick too. no fever... but i heard strep throat is going around. what are the signs of that???

7. baby R is doing sooo much better. he is eating baby food and gaining weight. he is adorbs... however he is unbelievably spoiled. he literally will not let us put him down. he has so many people who hold him all day long that he gets mad... really really mad if no one is holding him. little stinker. my grandma was trying to help me break him of this habit while we were in indiana. she suggested i lay him down and let him cry it out a little. she was feeling good about the decision... see look! he's doing fine! she said relieved. well, i had to remind her that her hearing isn't what it used to be. when she put her ear up to the door she heard the screaming.

8. i really want to craft and bake. anyone want to have a craft and baking day?

9. i really need to go prepare the backyard for the pony i am going to get for Christmas.

10. paul keeps taking all my prenatal vitamins and calls them multi vitamins

R's first food

it's that time again. time to start baby food. R loved it. he ate the entire jar on his first try.

all gone!!!

S is 4!!

4 years ago my little sweet S was born!!

we had so much fun at your birth. you were born late at night, after a big rush of babies at the hospital earlier that day, we begged the nurses to let us stay and induce you. we had already found sitters for your sisters and were ready to go. they did let us stay and we were so happy to have our 4th little girl later that night! daddy even bought the doctor flowers to thank her for coming in late and helping us think of names for our 4th beautiful flower girl.
your sister D thought that we had you just for her. she couldn't believe she had her own real baby doll.
what a cute 1 yr. old!!!
2 yrs. old.....
3 yrs. old....

and today you are 4!!!!! happy birthday baby girl!!!!